Environment Food and Rural Affairs written question – answered at on 29 September 2008.
Mark Harper
Shadow Minister (Work and Pensions)
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on what occasions computer system failure has resulted in the inability of the Rural Payments Agency to (a) access historical records and (b) make payments in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.
Jonathan R Shaw
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Marine, Landscape and Rural Affairs) and Minister for the South East), Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
holding answer
The IT systems used by RPA staff to access historical records and/or make payments have been available for use for 99.73 per cent. of the planned hours of service during the last 12 months. The short periods of system downtime amounted to an average of only one hour per month and none of these outages have affected the RPA payment schedules, nor access to historic records or other critical information.
Yes0 people think so
No0 people think not
Would you like to ask a question like this yourself? Use our Freedom of Information site.
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
Parliamentary questions are conventionally answered within seven days of being lodged, or on a particular day for so-called "Named Day" questions. (Source: House of Commons Information Office, Factsheet P1, "Parliamentary Questions")
A holding answer may be issued by a Minister if, for whatever reason, a substantive or final answer to the question cannot be provided in the time available.
